Summer Lovin'

Today is the last day of school, it's such an exciting time for kids because the summer holds such endless possibilities. When I was little I used to imagine doing all kinds of amazing things in the summer and then come fall I was always disappointed that we didn't do any of those things. I'm not complaining though because the stuff we did do was awesome. I have the best summer memories and just because I didn't appreciate them at the time (I was a bratty kid) doesn't mean that I don't appreciate them now.

Last summer I spent working while my kids stayed with my mom, my mom has health problems so they didn't get to do much at all, this year I'm making it up to them. I'm going to be the best freaking mother ever! We're going to the pool at least once a week, we're going to go to story time at the library once a week, we're going to have a week long trip to Houston where we'll go to the beach (hopefully it won't be covered in oil), we're going to have a week long trip to Colorado, we're running a 5K as a family, we're going to the lake, we're going to do arts and crafts and play with bubbles and all kinds of fun things that kids love. This summer is NOT going to be spent indoors glued to a tv.

I also have some other lofty goals for this summer, like, I want to teach Sophia to ride her bike without training wheels, I'm trying to get the kids in swim class (we'll see how that goes) and I really want to learn to skateboard (I'm not really sure why but I have an overwhelming urge to skateboard). I want to ride bikes all over post, I want to go through so much sunscreen that I will wish I had bought stock in Coppertone. This is going to be a great summer!

I got an email this morning letting me know that my quote will be used on Overheard in the Office today! The funniest part was that I didn't even remember what I submitted but when I saw the 3PM post it all came back to me. LOL

I really miss working at the bank, it really was great comedic relief sometimes.

Guten Tag

So, it's been forever since I've written on this blog but I finally have something to say that isn't about running, amazing huh? On Tuesday we found out that we are going to be moving to Germany in March! I'm so excited because we all know how much I hate Oklahoma (even though running has really helped me appreciate Oklahoma a lot more). I'm going to miss my friends and family but I'm beyond excited to get to travel and experience a new culture. I'm really excited because the kids are old enough to remember this time in their lives, it's going to be amazing.

I really wanted to start blogging here again so I can look back on our journey in Germany and our journey getting to Germany. I have a lot of stuff to do before we leave so it's a good thing we have 10 months before we leave. I'm going to start planning out places we want to visit while we're there, France is really close to where we're going to be so I'm sure that will be in there along with Italy (our #1 spot) and the UK.  So, if anyone has any suggestions leave me a comment, I pretty much want to see everything but I know that won't be possible so I need to narrow it down.

We now interrupt your regularly scheduled blogging...

I know I haven't been blogging here lately but the thing is my running blog has really been my focus, so, I've decided to take a "time out" here. I'll still be around commenting on your blogs like always I'm just putting a lot of time into my running and I only have time for one blog right now. Naturally, I'm choosing to put my attention on my running blog because running is so important to me. Feel free to stop by though, even if you aren't a runner, I won't bite!

Houston, we have a name.

After much debating we finally named the kitten. We decided on Lucy, mostly because she's a precious little girl and that name reminded us of a sweet little baby. It's also nice that when she does something wrong I get to say, "Lucy! You got some 'splainin' to do."

Here Kitty, Kitty.

Our Sunday was spent in Oklahoma City where we got this little ball of precious. We're still trying to come up with a name for her but she is the sweetest.

Susie is absolutely terrified of her because what 75 pound dog isn't afraid of a 1 pound kitten?
Doesn't she look vicious?She's a killer.

Hard At Work

Ants, Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

For Christmas my son got this really cool ant habitat from my brother and his wife, they're a super cool aunt and uncle because 1)they have no kids so they always get the kids things that "typical parents" wouldn't get and 2) because they are Nicholas' godparents and that pretty much makes them awesome. Typically a present that you have to order live animals in the mail would piss me off but this was really cool and Luis and I were just as excited about it as Nicholas was.

Anyway, apparently this is some amazing gel developed by NASA (you hear that Gin? NASA. Is this what you do all day, play with ants?) that has all the nutrients and water that ants need and its clear so you can see all the neat-o tunnels they build.

When you open it up it's pretty unremarkable, it just looks like a odd shaped tub of goo but it starts to get cool when the ants arrive. Those are the ants below.

We ordered the harvester ants because they're larger which makes them easier to see. After a few days in a test tube in the mail these babies are active too. I was going to have Nicholas dump them in the container but he refused saying the ants might kill him so I did the deed and man, was I glad I did. Those suckers are fast and wanted to get the heck out of that tube, I barely made it out alive...okay, I very easily made it out alive but this post needed some adventure.

The booklet that comes with the habitat says to allow 24-48 hours for the ants to start tunneling, at this point they're just eating I think (at least that's what it looks like). The coolest part is that it comes with this super magnifying glass that you can see all the little hairs on the ants and their creepy little faces, Nicholas loves it.

The kids are so in awe of this thing that they asked to eat their snack with it.

This is such a neat gift and really educational for the whole family. I wanted to share with everyone because I know sometimes as a parent you get stuck when trying to get a gift for a child or when you're looking for something fun and educational for your kids and I really think this is a great idea, even if it is a hassle to order ants in the mail.

I'll be sure to post some pictures after a few days to show you how the ants are tunneling (because I know you're as riveted as I am...what? I really am).

Awwww, shucks!

Last night I got a comment from this cool chick because I came to Colorado and didn't tell her (in my defense I didn't tell anyone because it was an impulsive trip with no planning). I knew she lived in Colorado, I mean her blog is called Raising Colorado, duh! But I had no idea that she literally worked right down the street from where J lives and we actually went out a few times while I was in town and it would have been sooooo easy to drop by and say hi. I can't believe it and I'm super annoyed because I would love to brag tell you about meeting her.

So next time I'm in Colorado (probably this summer) I am so going to meet her, maybe get to see her adorable (and very Asian-looking) son, Bok Choy Troy! And I'll definitely tell J to keep an eye out for hot UPS guys because that could be her hubby. How exciting!

Why I Love Google Reader

I was a little late getting on the Google Reader bandwagon, I've had a blog and been reading blogs for over 2 years now and in December I finally tried the reader. J has been using Google Reader for a looooong time and her biggest problem has always been that once you start using the reader you will stop commenting as much. I can definitely see how that could be possible so I didn't ever want to try it. I pride myself on my comments, I love getting comments and so I like to leave comments because if I like them then I'm sure you do too. Seems like sound logic.

So, I was hesitant to get it for several years but then I changed my email to gmail and there was this nifty little button I could get on my homepage and it said "Google Reader" and I thought it would look nice next to my nifty little Twitter button so I decided to try it out.

Sweet mother of God, I love Google Reader! I actually get everyone's blogs read in a decent amount of time, I also don't lose blogs because I didn't have time to check them out before you talkative little people decided to write another post. Before I was struggling to get everyone's blogs read and now that I've added my other blog I have a lot of new running blogs to read too, I was a little overwhelmed with it all. Now that I finally got with the times I can feasibly add probably 20 more blogs and still keep up. Maybe I comment less now but I read more so I think it all evens out in the end.

So, thanks, Google Reader, for allowing me to read more blogs and put off all the things I should be doing, you're a champ!

Why I Love My Best Friend

I got this in the mail today from my BFF and it is totally me.

Just in case you couldn't read that.

I don't know why it looks like there are lines on this shirt, there aren't.

If you love this then you can check it out and more here.

Coloradooooooooooo!!!!!

Sorry I was M.I.A. for awhile, we took a trip to Colorado for Christmas to visit my JillyBean. It was totally unplanned, in fact we gave them about 13 hours notice that we would be coming and staying with them for 4 days, talk about a surprise.

It was an amazing trip and it just made me want to get to Colorado that much more. It was probably my favorite Christmas yet. If we don't live there by next year then I could definitely see us taking this trip again but we're crossing our fingers that we'll be moved by then.

We've only been back a few days and I already miss J, D, and Princess. The kids are bugging me about when we're going back because we all had so much fun. We'll be planning another trip this summer because J and I want to go to Lilith Fair in Denver (we've already got our shirts picked out and everything).

The only problem with loving Colorado so much is that it just makes Oklahoma look even worse and I didn't even know that was possible.

You're Not Welcome

I have decided to start calling my female cycle Gertrude, maybe Gertie for short. I hate that name and I hate my cycle so it just fits (sorry to any readers that may be named Gertrude). I was supposed to be done with this crap but damn Gertie keeps coming back. Gertie makes me a little crazy like just last night. I was driving to the worst place on Earth, Walmart, and I started crying, I just kept thinking 'I hate my life, I hate this place, I want to move but it's just so hopeless' and then the floodgates opened and I was sobbing (I know, I'm crazy, like straight jacket kind of crazy). Well, not even two minutes later my daughter said something strange (I don't even remember what it was) and all of a sudden I was cracking up laughing, like hysterically. At this point I realized something wasn't right and made a note to call my doctor Monday morning. But it wasn't until I got home and saw Gertie was here that it finally all made sense. Stupid Gertie, I wish that bitch would die.

Extra Motivation From My Scale

I'm fat, a lot of you already know this, I've lost 50 pounds but I still have a ways to go. I also have no problems posting my weight on here because I personally think that I look pretty damn good for 212 pounds (that's right, I said it).

I've been bouncing around between 209 and 212 for months now and it's driving me crazy. I know this is all because I haven't been making the best food choices or at least I haven't consistently been making good food choices.

This morning I got on the scale hoping for a little budge, I had a good run yesterday and even though I had a crappy dinner I was looking for fractions of a pound. What I got was 198.6!?! My scale is sometimes possessed by ghosts of smaller people. I knew this was wrong but I'm not gonna lie, looking down at that number is a lot better than looking down at my real number.

I stepped off and let it zero out again before stepping back on to see that I lost .2 pounds. That was good enough for me but it got me thinking about being under 200 and I think it gave me a little extra push to keep losing.

So, I'm going to work extra hard this week to eat right and I'm going to work out everyday and see where I am next week. Hopefully I'll be closer to 198.6 than I am right now.

A picture is worth ...30 words, tops.

Our dining room has French doors that face the East, sometimes this makes for an uncomfortable breakfast but on Monday it was perfect because at 7 am it looked like this.

NUH-tivity Scene

My husband isn't really into Christmas, never has been. I like to think this is because of his whore of a mother who could never get anything right, especially Christmas. Luis is pretty much the Grinch around here, questioning why we have to have a tree? or lights? or presents? Why am I telling you this, you ask? Well, it's to let you know the dude doesn't know much about the holiday.

So, our very first Christmas together I made a comment about a nativity scene I saw and he gave me this puzzled look.

Then a light went off, "NUH-tivity scene?" he said. "Well, that makes a lot more sense."

I looked at him in disbelief, "What did you think they were called?"

"I always thought they were called Activity scenes."

"Are you serious?"

"Yeah, I always wondered since they weren't very active."

Then I cracked up laughing.

He still calls them activity scenes just to be funny and always remarks how they should move or something since they are after all, activity scenes.

Fluffy McPooter

Another gem by someecards.com.

Holiday Hilarity - The Nativity Scene

Somebody massacred poor baby Jesus.

Christmas and Crap Like That

Last night I went Christmas shopping. Originally, we weren't going to be able to have Christmas presents this year with Susie's surgery and all but we used our vacation fund to pay off most of the surgery. I'm really glad because even though I think there is way too much emphasis on presents at Christmas, I don't want our kids to think Santa has something against them.

So I was able to get both of the kids all their presents for $90. It's not going to be the best Christmas ever as far as presents go but I'm going to try to make it the best Christmas because we're going to be spending time together as a family. We're not going to my parents' house for once so Luis will be in a much better mood on Christmas. We'll probably spend most of the day playing games (of the board variety, not video) and if the weather is nice we'll play outside at the park. I can almost guarantee we'll be taking Susie for a walk to remind us how lucky we are that she is still with us. We'll bake cookies and candies and just enjoy each other's company.

What are your plans for Christmas?

PSA: Smoking is bad, mmmm kay?

So, this is kind of a random post but I saw this woman on my way home from the mall this morning and she was smoking a cigarette in her car...with the windows up. Yuck! Now, I'm not going to act all self-righteous, I used to smoke for several years, but even then I would think smoking in a closed car is gross. How do you breathe? That got me thinking about when I used to smoke and why I even started smoking.

I'll admit, I was that stupid kid that wanted to fit in and smoked because the cute popular boy I liked smoked. I was 13 and there was a party I was invited to and I knew he would be there and he would be smoking. So, I stole a cigarette from my dad and went behind the garage one afternoon and "practiced" because I didn't want to cough and look like an idiot at the party. Yeah, I was that lame. Anyway, the boy payed no attention to me at the party or my mad smoking skills, so it was all for naught.

I don't get why smoking seems so cool to kids? It seems like now days kids are a little smarter about smoking, I don't know if parents are doing a better job or that our generation is more health conscious or that being "green" is the new cool thing? I'm glad that less kids are smoking though because that means less people are becoming addicted and that makes me really happy.